Process of cleaning wool and other allied fibers



Patented Jan. 10, 1933 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUSSELL L. BROWN,0]? LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO FITGEBCALIFORNIA COMPANY, OF LOS ANQELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OFCALIFORNIA PROCESS OF CLEANING WOOL AND OTHER ALLIED FIBERS No Drawing.

Fleece wool asit is sheared from live sheep, and pulled wool, as it ispulled from the skins f-rom slaughtered sheep, and allied fibers, suchas, the hair of the camel, mohair, llama 5 hair, alpaca, and goat hair,all contain fiber which is keratin, suint (the salts of perspiration)and grease. or yolk (degras), and foreign matter which consists of sand.dirt, dust,

vegetable matter of various kinds and-hygroscopic moisture.

This inventionis a process of removing from the fleece or pulled wool orother allied fibers a portion of the degras (yolk) or grease, and all ora substantial portion of the foreign matter such as sand, dirt, dust,vegetable matter and the like adhering thereto.

I have discovered that so-called fleece wool, or pulled wool or otherallied fibers can be cleaned of foreign mattersand a porti on of thegrease (yolk or degras) etc. adhering thereto without any moistening orother preliminary treatment by subjecting it to a temperaturesufficiently low to stiflen or coneal the grease or degras on the fiberand oreign matters but not'freeze the fibers, and then removing aportion of the grease and substantially all of the foreign matters bypassing the refrigerated fibers through a mechanical device, such as aso-called dusting or picking machine, whereby a portion of the coldgrease and practically all of the foreign matters are separated from thefibers, the latter being discharged from the mechanical devicesubstantially cleaned of burrs, chaff, and other vegetable matter. sand,and dirt, and an appreciable portion of the grease.

Natural untreated fleece or pulled wool and/or other allied fiberscontain more or less natural grease, and such grease more or less coatsthe burrs, vegetable and foreign matters, and if such wool or fibers aresubjected to a temperature suflicient to harden or congeal the grease itrenders the burrs, vegetable and foreign matters sufficiently solid toenable them to be readily detached from the fibers. There may be anatural wax in the vegetable matter which further assists in makingit-more susceptible to removal at v refrigerated temperatures.

In carrying out my invention the fleece or Application filed September15, 1932. Serial No. 633,378.

in the usual manner, and when it is desired to clean the same, thefleece or pulled wool or other'fibers, without any preliminary wash' ingor moistening, may be placed in a feeder and preferably fed into or ontoa conveyor, preferably an endless belt, whereon the wool or fibers arechilled to a temperaturesuflicient to stiffen or congeal the grease.either by hav ing the conveyor confined in a chamber at a refrigeratedtemperature, or by subjecting the wool or other fibers to refrigeratedair. As the grease will harden or congeal very quickly the time requiredfor this chilling is short.

' The chilled wool or other fibers are then fed into a so-called dusteror cleaning machine whereby the congealed grease and fortialcleaning-can be effected at temperatures as high as F. and as low asminus 15 F..

but I do not restrict myself to this range of temperatures. The time ofchilling may vary from less than one minute to about ten minutes ormore. depending upon the nature of the wool or other fibers and upon thetemperature. The grease should be chilled sufliciently to render it hardenough to hold the vegetable matter intact. In the fleece or unwashedstate the burrs and foreign matters are not so matted in or with thewool or other fibers as they are if the wool or other fibers are scouredand/or washed before they are refrigerated, and therefore the foreignmatters can be more readily detached.

After the separation of the foreign matters machines, and then dried orpassed into the manufacturing plant for use. The scouring. decreaslngand/or washing would be'donc more rapidly, with less detergents, andwith less expense than is necessary by present methods.

In my invention it is not "necessary or desubstantially all of theforeign matters were removed.

sirable to moisten-or wash or degrease the wool or other fibers prior tothe cleansing operation; and I dispense with the initial dusting oropening and cleansing and washing steps, or-the wetting heretofore used,prior to the refrigerating and the separating steps, and this leaves thewool or other fibers in a condition more desirable for subsequentoperations. In tests of my process I have taken the fleece, pulled wool,or other fibers, and dried same in an oven, evento a bone-dry state, andthen treated same .by my process with the result that much of the greaseand By not moistening or washing the wool 'or other allied fibers priorto refrigeration, I

obviate the necessity for careful control of the moisture content beforefreezing, and the use of excess water in the fibers, which excess waterprolongs the time and increases the expense of refrigeration. I havefound that the mestiza (spiral or watch-spring) burr becomes very weakand flattenedif/when passed through the scouring operation and squeezerolls, and has a tendency to unwind. Since I treat the wool or otherfibers prior to scouring, the burrs retain their natural shape andstrength 'when introduced into my process. The absence of waterotherthan hygroscopic moisture in my process, results in less corrosionof the machinery, and less expense in removingfrozen moisture dischargedfrom the dusting machine. Also it is possible to use my inventionwithout the expense of drying equipment, and the product can be storedor .shipped without further treatment, which can not the done by the wetrefrigeration process. I By my process the wool or other allied fibershave substantially; all the foreign matters, and considerable of thegrease, re-

moved before it is degreased, washed, or

scoured; therefore. less detergents are re- 'quired for cleansing thanby other known processes. a The burrs also are much easierto removebecause they have-not been previously water-soaked and flattenedbypassing through the squeeze rolls before separation, as hasbeenheretofore customary.

The equipment necessary to carry out my process is s mple and can bemore readily installed in existing plants than the wet freezing process,because much less refrigeration is re hired, and it can be located anyplace in the p ant rather than after the scouring apparatus as: requiredby the wet freezing process.

I claim: y

1. The herein described process of cleaning unwashed fleece and pulledwools and other allied fibers toa low temperature which will congeal thegrease on the wools or fibers, and then cleaning the wools or fibers bymechanical means while at the low temperature.

2. The herein described process of cleaning unwashed fleece and pulledwools and other alliedanimal fibers containing extraneous ural grease asderived from the animal, of.

foreign matters and a portionof the grease, consisting of subjectingsuch wools or other allied fibers to a low temperature which willcongeal the-grease on the foreign matters and wools or fibers, and whilecongealed removing the foreign matters and a portion of the grease fromthe wools or fibers by mechanical means. l a

4. The herein described process of cleaning fleece and pulled woolsandother allied animal fibers of foreign matters and a portion of thegrease adhering to the wools or fibers as derived from the animalpri'orto washing or scouring the wools or fibers, consisting insubjecting such wools or other allied-fibers to a low. temperature whichwill congeal the grease on the wools or fibers and foreign matters, andthen while congealed detaching the foreign matters and a portion of thegrease from the wools or fibers means.

5. The hereindescribed process of cleaning u'nscoured fleece and pulledwools and other allied animal fibers, containing extraneous foreignmattersand substantially all the natural grease as derived from theanimal, of foreign matters consisting in subjecting such wools or otherallied fibers to a low temperature which will congeal the grease on theforeign matters, and while con ealed separating the foreign mattersbymec anical means.

F RUSSELL L. BROWN.

allied animal fibers, containing extraneous foreign matters andsubstantially all the natural grease as derived from the animal,consisting in subjecting such wools and other by mechanical

